


Tsume Inuzuka's Guide to Raising a De-Aged Traitor

by Varmint



Category: Naruto
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, BAMF Inuzuka Tsume, Dysfunctional Family, Family, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Inuzuka Clan-centric, One Shot Collection, Sensei Orochimaru (Naruto)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:21:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23939089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Varmint/pseuds/Varmint
Summary: Konoha's plans for the de-aged missing-nin was to throw him into a juvenile detention hall, where he would age until maturity, and then throw him into prison. That was an incredibly stupid plan that Tsume immediately vetoed. And without really waiting for anyone to open their stupid mouths up in protest, she grabbed the child by the rather frail wrist and pulled him into the safety and loyalty of her pack. Granted, it would take a while for old wounds to heal. But she would make them heal.Or!One-shots of a new Konoha wherein Orochimaru's invasion failed, he was reverted back to six years of age, and Tsume proved loyalty was the most important facet of her Will of Fire.
Comments: 34
Kudos: 123





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** Konoha's plans for the de-aged missing-nin was to throw him into a juvenile detention hall, where he would age until maturity, and then throw him into prison. That was an incredibly stupid plan that Tsume immediately vetoed. And without really waiting for anyone to open their stupid mouths up in protest, she grabbed the child by the rather frail wrist and pulled him into the safety and loyalty of her pack. Granted, it would take a while for old wounds to heal. But she would _make them heal_.

Or!

One-shots of a new Konoha wherein Orochimaru's invasion failed, he was reverted back to six years of age, and Tsume proved loyalty was the most important facet of her Will of Fire.

Quick A/N: Tsume's awesome. I had thought about writing a story with this same plot, but with Genma Shiranui as the main character. But then I decided that it was about time I gave Tsume the spotlight all by her awesome lonesome. That is all.

~..~..~

Tsume was aware of the reputation she had in Konoha. She didn't care for it. But she knew the strength of a reputation.

Orochimaru wasn't old enough to even be considered a threat anymore. His chakra, which had once been powerful and imposing, was faint enough to let Tsume know it was only just beginning to develop. His mind had been reverted along with his body and chakra: this was a child of no more than six years of age. He was saying things that only someone his age would remember from a time long passed. For the first time since he had betrayed the Village, it seemed that Orochimaru had no ill feelings towards his home.

He just wanted to know where his parents were. He wasn't accustomed to being outside of his clan's land without his parents, after all, and he wished to return to his home as quickly as possible.

Poor thing... Even Tsume's stone heart ached upon hearing the truly distressed tone within the kid's voice.

If her old teacher was acting, he had learned the one skill he had never been able to master in the years she had known him: sounding genuinely _human_ in an incredibly vulnerable situation. While the snake bastard she had once called sensei had been a master of illusion, he had never been particularly good at garnering empathy from others by just the tone of his voice. It was hard to make others feel what one barely did, after all.

"Tsume-sama? Where are we going?" the child's hand was frail within her hand. This kid was so thin and wiry, now that she thought about it, it seemed he barely received a proper nutrition. If the rumors of what had once happened to his family were true, then she would not be surprised. Konohagakure was a good village to live in... as long as one belonged to the social class of 'fortunates'.

"My pack. I'm adopting you. I'm sorry to say, kid, but your family's gone."

He had been crying into Kuromaru's fur for the past few minutes. At the reminder of the fate that had befallen his clan, the child sniffled and closed his eyes. But no new tears trailed down his cheeks.

Crying once and moving on: The makings of a true shinobi right there... this guy was bred specifically for war, so she shouldn't be surprised by this. But this kid's reactions were a painful reminder of how much Konoha had fought to _stop_ children from suffering like this.

"Being adopted by an Inuzuka? Are you sure that is prudent? I do not wish to cause any troubles within your clan."

 _It's too late for that_ , she thought with chagrin. This guy had messed up so much within her clan by just _existing_. They had _trusted_ him, all those years ago, when he had still been loyal to their village. His betrayal of the village had not just been a blow to their home; it had been a blow to her _whole pack_. Some shinobi had even retired, unsure if they would be able to be useful to their home now that they knew they were tainted by having been taught by Konoha's biggest mistake.

Well, if you were to ask Tsume, Orochimaru and his betrayal was only _one_ of Konohagakure's biggest mistakes. There were countless of those, after all. Ranging all the way from their treatment of the last living Hatake members to the treatment of Minato's only son. The Sannin and the disappointments they had become were part of that range, but certainly did not form part of the top mistakes, in her expert opinion.

The number one mistake the village had ever made was _not_ make an Inuzuka Hokage earlier. But if she had her say, that would be a fact that would be changing soon.

But that was a matter to contemplate later on. Right now, she needed to find proper accommodations for the newest addition to her family. And she also needed to think up of proper threats that would put anyone that questioned her decision in their proper place. She was Tsume fucking Inuzuka and she wouldn't tolerate anyone questioning the fact that she decided to take pity on the great traitor that was once her teacher.

Oh, she could already hear the dumb allegations that would fly as soon as others caught wind of what she had just done. The one she couldn't wait to hear so she could laugh in the face of whoever was suicidal enough to tell her this to her face was: "You're only helping him out because he was once your teacher!"

Ooh... if anyone told her that... they would find out just how _sentimental_ she could be.

Back to the matter at hand; Tsume smiled- even though she knew her smiles were interpreted more as vicious smirks than a physical sign of happiness or an action done to try and comfort someone else- and nodded at the child.

From somewhere behind them both, she heard Kuromaru huff in indignation. Tsume rolled her eyes; the mutt could huff and groan all he wanted. She wasn't about to stop and ask for his opinion before she stepped in and interrupted the Council of Clan Leaders to let them all know about the plans she had for the de-aged Orochimaru. At the moment, she didn't have the time to stop! Either she acted or her old teammate's pissier brother would get his wish of getting Orochimaru jailed.

"You know about the Inuzuka being weird, right?" she asked the kid, taking a moment to glance down at him.

The crowds around them were parting for them as if death itself was walking down the streets of Konoha. Tsume stopped herself short from snarling at anyone that dared stray from her path; she had a lot of work to do, it seemed.

"You're not weird." the child murmured softly, looking up at her with wide eyes and his scent wrapped up in genuine incredulity. "You are _unique._ My parents said so before... you know..." and there was the sadness enveloping his smell again, causing him to look down at the street.

Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact that he had grown up into a psychopathic sociopath with a bloodlust only rivalled by the most insane of shinobi, Tsume would have never believed this child _didn't_ have a shot in life when he had been growing up the first time around. Because he had a good head on his shoulders and, from the sounds of it, his parents, even with all of the hardships in their life, had tried to raise him _well_. Few ever respected the Inuzuka clan, after all. They were usually just written off as _savages_ ; necessary tools of war, but dangerous to allow to roam.

She took a moment to allow Orochimaru some time to his thoughts. Then she cleared her throat and squeezed his hand, "Good parents. I think I would've liked 'em." and if the fact that his scent filling up with some semblance of pride made her own mood lighten just a little, no one but her and Kuromaru would ever know. "Anyway, we Inuzuka, we don't care about where you come from or who shares your bloodline."

This was a mass murderer. This was the greatest traitor in the history of Konoha. This man had harmed everyone within their Village, from the youngest baby to the oldest retiree, and he had not even thought twice about his actions.

But this was a man... that had never been given society's approval. He had never been okayed by the Village that he had sworn to protect a lifetime ago; the very Village he betrayed quite some years ago. While his teammates had been rejoiced and loved, he had been shunned and merely tolerated. He had been a stranger in his own home. He had always been.

He wouldn't be anymore, though. Not now that Tsume Inuzuka was going to be raising him as one of her own pups.

The Village would have to suck up their discontent; she would accept _no crap_ directed at her youngest runt.

"As long as you're loyal to your family, you're an Inuzuka." she finished as they finally broke away from the busy streets of Konoha, reaching the dirt road that led in the direction of her clan's compound.

Kuromaru coughed softly and Tsume smirked at how unsubtle he was. He hadn't necessarily enjoyed not being part of the decision she took, but he undoubtedly thought the same way she did. This was a runt; not the Orochimaru they all knew and hated. And if they raised him right, they'd fix all the shit Konoha had managed to fuck up over the guy's first lifetime.

"Oh, I can be loyal to your family." Orochimaru's voice was excited now, "I like families. Especially big ones. My family used to be big."

Okay, if she had been doubting it before, Tsume was a thousand percent certain over the course she had decided to take in her life: Orochimaru was going to be raised right. And he would use his genius for good this lifetime, not evil.

"Don't worry, runt. We can't replace the family you lost, but I promise you one thing: you'll find no more loyal a family than us."

..~..~..

Hope you enjoyed! Please review and tell me thoughts!

Please stay safe and don't take any unnecessary risks!


	2. Chapter 2

When they finally reached the gates of the Inuzuka compound, it was to find Hana waiting for their arrival. She was leaning against the stone columns that marked the beginning of their vast plot of land, the three Haimaru brothers lounging in the shadows of the trees surrounding the path they had taken.

Behind her daughter, Tsume could see the beginnings of her clan's territory. And it always made her heart swell to see the small, humble, yet sturdy buildings that formed up small streets within the developed area of their territory. The Inuzuka clan was always busy- it didn't matter what time of the day it happened to be. One could always find at least one Inuzuka roaming the grounds and at least three pups escaping from their parents. This clan wasn't like any other in Konoha. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Word travels fast."

Hana shrugged softly with one shoulder and looked her directly in the eyes. She didn't want to look down at Orochimaru just yet and Tsume wasn't about to scold her for being a coward right now. The wounds were still very raw, after all. And from the way Hana wasn't trying to defy her, the woman knew that her daughter wasn't about to fly off the handle about bringing the traitor into their pack. It was going to take some time, but eventually Hana would be able to forgive the now-dead Orochimaru and embrace the one that lived before them.

"I've already told the cooks that there'll be a clan-wide dinner tonight. The elders are scrambling for a meeting before dinner time." the young woman informed her as she pushed off of the column she rested against, revealing the beautifully terrifying wolf's head that decorated the middle of the structure. "Most of the clan's placing bets on how disastrous our lives will become. A certain someone even said that his prophecy was proving accurate."

Tsume shook her head and scoffed, "You can tell cousin Koji that he'll be the first I contact for babysitting duty if he keeps spewing that load of horse shit."

When she made to take a step forward and towards her home, which was singing to her now that she could actually hear all of her clansmen running around and getting into all kinds of scuffles, she was stopped by the small hand grabbing onto her own refusing to budge. She was somewhat surprised by Orochimaru suddenly becoming tense, but soon turned to the child to look at him.

The child's eyes were wide as he looked through the columns that made up the wide-open front-gate of their compound. Unlike the pompous Hyuuga or overly cautious Aburame, the Inuzuka didn't keep themselves locked away behind embroidered wood or heavy metal. The clan had an open door policy for the rest of the Village- and the lack of an actual gate was a testament to that particular way of life.

"What's wrong pup?"

"Are... are you _sure_?"

Oh, that was adorable.

Honestly, she never would have thought that her crass, cold, much too logical, and emotionally stunted sensei had once been a child as cute and _thoughtful_ as this. But he was thinking about the repercussions adopting someone like him would have on _her clan_.

Sure, he may be thinking about the repercussions being adopted by her clan might have on him... but, Tsume's nose wasn't lying to her. And this child didn't smell anything close to being deceitful. And unless Orochimaru was born rotten to the core, he wouldn't have the proper knowledge to know how to obscure his scent and mask his intentions.

"I'm sure." her smile was small, but it was genuine. Sue her, she already identified this pup as _her's_. "C'mon."

~/~

Some of her pack stopped to stare at the newest pup she had brought into their territory. Some glared at the child with wariness born from reasonable worry. Others stared at the kid with wonder; probably because they were surprised to find out that the great snake traitor was once an actual human being. And a few, most of which were young children, stared through narrowed eyes at their newest prey.

No one dared to walk up to her and defy her choice. If her pack knew their place, none would dare try and defy her. She knew what was best for the pack, after all. And she'd be damned if anyone questioned her choices.

Most of her clan continued to go about their lives as if they hadn't even caught a whiff of the newest scent to enter their territory. This meant that the usual spectacle of arguments, fistfights, and other such activities other clans would look down upon went about without much interruption as they walked through the main road of the clan compound. Orochimaru actually gasped when he saw how two idiots, after they had finished up punching each other in the face, embraced one another and promised to buy a round each in Hideyoshi's.

Honestly, she had yet to meet one person that wasn't from her clan that _wasn't_ flabbergasted when they saw such a scene. Apparently, normal people didn't get into physical altercations to solve a problem. And, sillier than that, some people couldn't go back to being friends _after_ getting into a physical altercation. Non-Inuzuka were truly weird- and somewhat overly emotional.

If one were to ask her, solving a problem required one kind of incredibly simple solution: violence or a bet. If one wasn't strong enough to beat their rival, then they needed to be smart enough to outwit them; and vice-versa, of course. The winner of either of these two choices proved to be the dominant rival and, becase of that, the victor.

Life was incredibly simple.

Other people just _chose_ to overcomplicate it.

"Um... Tsume-sama?" Orochimaru's voice was small, even smaller than it had been before. Even though she couldn't understand why he was so surprised; exactly like she couldn't understand other people that didn't belong to her pack; she could understand that, very probably, he was feeling overwhelmed.

"These are all your new family, runt." she lifted her thumb and patted the hand within her's two times with the appendage. "They're weird, very annoying, and kind of stupid. But they're your family now."

They were around a two-minute's walk from her physical home by now. Hana was trailing behind them, skulking because of how unsure she was about the newest pup that had been brought into the pack. And Kuromaru was behind her, growling at the Haimaru brothers that continued trying to jump at him to bite the only ear he had left.

"Oi, clan head!"

Tsume didn't bother stopping in her path to her home when she heard the shout from the ancient brat. She instead held on tighter to Orochimaru's hand and quickened her pace; if she got to her house before the bastard reached them, she would very likely get away from the conversation she did _not_ want to have with Chifuyu.

When a small brat with hair that was so tangled and dirty that her mother should have cut it months ago, Tsume knew that Chifuyu wasn't working alone.

Admittedly, she had to stop herself from growling at the young Sora that had ran in front of her without a second thought as to her safety.

"Play?"

The girl's face was round, her cheeks overcome with the large fang tattoos, and her skin covered in a layer of dirt that attested to her disdain for daily baths. Like a good Inuzuka, Chifuyu's granddaughter refused to clean herself unless it was absolutely necessary to give her and other Inuzuka's noses a break from her stink.

Dark, thin eyes sparkled as they focused on the newest prey to enter the Inuzuka territory. Even though she was the runt of her litter in _size_ , this girl more than made up for her body's weakness in attitude and intelligence. It was a shame she took after the Annoying Elder known as Chifuyu, rather than her much more likeable mother.

Orochimaru moved himself so he was pressed against Tsume's leg, clearly terrified of the eager child that had flung herself in their path and asked a monosyllabic question that held a lot more weight to it than many would understand.

Playing with an Inuzuka runt... Playing with _Sora_... if Orochimaru played his cards well, his reputation within the Inuzuka clan would be positive. But if he let Sora down in _any way_...

Chifuyu, that _snake_.

And people said Orochimaru was the last snake in their Village. They had just been looking in the wrong places, clearly.

"Ah, it is nice to see you again, mighty clan head." Chifuyu walked up behind her and the paw that fell on her shoulder was as heavy as it was wrinkly.

 _Dammit_.

She had really wanted to avoid having to speak with her elders before she had reached her physical home. Because she had wanted to show Orochimaru a stable house, probably similar to the one he had once lived in, before he had to go through _anymore new changes_.

Oh well.

Guess that wouldn't be happening.

"Go ahead, runt." Tsume shook her leg a bit to force him to unlatch from her. "Sora won't bite." then she glanced down at the child with hair that seriously needed to be cut, then pursed her lips a little. "Scratch that, she won't bite _too hard_."

Orochimaru looked like one of the Nara Deer when they got pinned down by an eager nin-ken that didn't understand that the deer didn't understand they just wanted to _play_ ; _not_ eat them. And while Tsume knew that probably any other adoptive mother would think twice before sending the kid off to play with the Inuzuka pup, she was an Inuzuka. And sooner or later, Orochimaru was going to have to learn how to be an Inuzuka. May as well start him off quick.

Wasting no time, the girl grabbed Orochimaru's hand and yanked him away, setting a pace that would have been much too fast on any other clan child... the fact that Orochimaru could keep up, even though he was caught off guard, was a testament to the fact that he had been prepared to be a true shinobi from an incredibly young age.

"Good runts." Chifuyu grunted and Tsume finally turned around to face the other woman.

Just like her grandchild, Chifuyu needed to cut her hair. But it wasn't because it was matted. It was simply because it was _boring._ Her graying her was long and lifeless and a jarring contrast to what an Inuzuka's wild hair wasn't supposed to look like. Her face was just like her hair; her chin sharp, her cheeks gaunt, her eyes deep-set, and her jaw thin. All her life, Chifuyu hadn't looked like a true Inuzuka. Probably because most of her grandparents were civilians and her father was a half-Inuzuka. Her mother had been a damn fine shinobi, though.

"What do you want?" Tsume sighed, watching as Sora jumped onto Orochimaru and forced him to begin to roll on the ground... the ex-adult looked so out of his depth it was kind of endearing. "I've got a stray to house."

"The elders got together and had a quick meeting." Chifuyu explained as she crossed her arms over her heavily furred chest. "We all decided you were stupid, reckless, and impulsive. But we may as well take the runt in and raise him right..." now she quirked a thin eyebrow and leaned closer to Tsume, the reek of saké coming from mouth becoming somewhat irritating rather than just noticeable. "What was Konoha planning for him?"

Tsume frowned, "Lock him up and throw away the key."

Chifuyu barked out in amusement, "Ah, some thing's never change, huh?"

No. And it was stupid.

So Tsume was going to force them to change.

The Inuzuka way of life was very simple indeed.

"Then it's a good thing we Inuzuka are around. What would this Village ever do without us?"

 _Tear itself apart_.

It's a good thing the Inuzuka were around.

~/~

"Busy day, huh?"

Orochimaru yawned as he rubbed at the corner of his eyes with both of his hands.

At the clan wide dinner set up at the last minute by the Inuzuka cooks, Orochimaru had been able to meet a large part of his new family. He had also been brought into the fold of Sora's group of pups, uncomfortable and unsure as he may have been, and that had cemented his status as a new Inuzuka. If the pups and runts of the clan accepted him, then the adults had no other choice than to accept him as well. They chanced a revolution otherwise.

"W's fun." the kid murmured as he allowed Tsume to lead him towards Shiromaru and her litter. "Sora's scary, though."

Tsume smiled over at the large bitch that lay in the middle of her living room as if she owned it. And, well, honestly, at this point she probably did. Her mother had marked that territory when her father had been a child and her mother before her and... Shiromaru's line had been alive since before the Inuzuka had tamed the first wolves, legend went. And the bitch had been around to raise her and her brothers; now she was still alive and prepared to raise her pups.

"That she is, kid." she conceded, then walked towards Shiromaru and knelt before her.

She had to move some fuzzy bodies aside to make enough space for Orochimaru to lay down, and she received some growls of irritation from the aged Shiromaru. But in less than one minute, she had laid the snake-pup down on the ground, his head against Shiromaru's soft stomach and he had instinctively curled onto his side. It took almost no time for the two-month old puppies to gravitate towards the warmth of his body.

"Goodnight, kid."

"G'night, Tsume-same."

Well wasn't that something? The kid _was_ capable of butchering the language.

This wasn't going to be easy. All sights were set on the Inuzuka clan now that she had adopted the traitor. There were going to be complaints and attacks on her reputation, her self, and her pack. But... well, that certainly didn't matter at all to her.

Life was simple for an Inuzuka, after all. And she knew the best two ways to deal with any and all problems life threw at her.

It didn't matter what anyone thought or wanted: she'd make an Inuzuka out of Orochimaru yet.

~..~..~

Hope you enjoyed this! 


	3. Kiba's New Brother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, initially I had one specific plan for this story. I've since changed my mind and so a lot of things will be different from what I originally envisioned- no worries, from what details I gave in the first chapters, nothing will seem too wild.
> 
> Please enjoy~

"Tsume... what is _that_?"

Sipping at her morning coffee, Tsume Inuzuka was not in the most pleasant of dispositions. So she only frowned when her biological pup's father walked into her kitchen with the wary question.

The man wasn't her husband. They had both agreed that while their romance was great when they were both okay with their individual lives, they were outright toxic for each other when anything went wrong for either of them. So they lived together and cared for their kids like proper parents would; but they both knew that none of them had an excuse to not leave through their home's door the moment something they couldn't handle came up.

Loyalty for the Inuzuka was very important, yes. But when it came to romance, the loyalty wasn't based upon the notion of _staying together_. Loyalty for the Inuzuka in a relationship meant that they were open with communication and painfully honest.

Not many non-clan members could understand why Inuzuka acted this way. Few could even begin to wrap their heads around the idea that the clan didn't think it was necessary for a mother and father to be married to raise a child. And she didn't even want to think about the miniscule amount of actually intelligent people that understood that there was no need to worry about a relationship that wasn't _their own_.

"You mean my pup?" she asked with sarcastic innocence, all the while she looked over in the direction the man was pointing towards.

Orochimaru had not yet awoken. He was still laying against Shiromaru's stomach, lending his body heat to her puppies in exchange for their camaraderie and cuddles. When she had crossed into the kitchen, her stone heart had softened upon seeing just how comfortable all of the pups seemed to be with each other.

" _Pup_?" Daichi questioned incredulously, eyes widening in a borderline comical fashion. "Tsume. That's Orochimaru. Your old genin-sensei."

Ah, simple-minded Daichi. That's what she had always loved about him. He was a person that didn't focus on too many complexities in life. Black was black and white was white to Daichi- there were very few shades of gray he cared to bother his brain with. And in his simple-mind, Orochimaru was evil and nothing would ever be able to change that.

In all honesty, it wasn't as if she could blame him for believing Orochimaru was the worst person in the history of the world. He had been her boyfriend when the bastard had betrayed the village. He had been there to help her pick up the pieces that were her confidence, trust, and belief for the good in the world. He had seen the true state in which Orochimaru had left her in. He had a reason to hate him with all of his heart.

"The very same." she took a sip of her black-as-old-Orochimaru's-soul coffee before she offered him a smirk. "He's a cute little shit, ain't he? I'm already thinking he'll look adorable with fangs on his cheeks."

Daichi closed his eyes upon hearing this, breathing in deeply to spend some time within his brain before he spoke out loud. Tsume shrugged to herself as she waited for him to say anything, continuing to enjoy her coffee before she even wondered what she would be making for the breakfast her household would be sharing. She watched as Daichi clasped his hands together, signaling that his thought process was deeper than normal for him, and she sighed softly.

She relaxed against her tattered and battle-scarred chair and settled herself down for a long wait.

~/~

"I hope you know what you're doing."

Tsume smirked to herself as she finished pulling out the leftover rice from some past night's dinner. Daichi had finally finished contemplating the big issue laid out before him. It had only taken him the better part of a half hour.

Not bad. Not bad at all; especially when one considered he had once stood, still and unmoving, for a whole hour at one point in his recent life. Of course, that had been when he had contemplated if he should continue to live in the house with his pups and Tsume even after his mother's final wishes had been to leave her and find himself a good woman that would treat him right.

That old hag had never liked her. She had never understood why Daichi allowed himself to be subjugated under her thumb; she had always wanted her firstborn to act like an alpha everywhere he went, no matter where it was that he went. She had never been able to understand that Daichi really loved her and really resented having to take care of _everyone all the time_. When he was with her, he didn't have to worry about her. If anything, _she_ took care of _him._

"Of course I know what I'm doing, Dai-chan." she offered him a confident wink and then placed the bowl of rice in the microwave so she could begin to heat it up.

Today's meats were almost finished up and she could hear the Haimaru brothers stirring- it would only be a matter of time before Hana awoke. "Now that you've come to a conclusion, where's Kiba?"

Her youngest had accompanied his father on a simple tracking mission so he could begin to internalize the importance of the job he was born to do. If everything had gone according to plan, he had even met his first traitor and aided in cuffing him.

Ah... she would have loved to see her youngest pup's first capture... but she had been forced to stay behind in Konoha because of Clan duties. And wasn't it fortunate such a thing had occurred? In another life she wouldn't have been around to stop those idiots from locking Orochimaru up and throwing away the key.

Daichi smiled softly, a wistful look coming over his eyes as pride began to shine through his scent. "He went with Hatake to hand in the report."

Tsume smiled, "My little warrior. Did he manage to get in on the action?"

Sitting down with a heavy sigh, Daichi nodded. Tsume turned back to the food just to hear him begin detailing how her runt threw himself into the hunt with a ferocity and passion that was only admirable in someone so young.

* * *

Kiba pursed his lips at Orochimaru's face.

Tsume stood behind her old teacher with her arms crossed below her breast, quiet as she allowed her runt to examine her newest pup.

His youngest took a step forward and invaded Orochimaru's personal space, just about shoving his nose into the pale child's neck. Orochimaru's whole body tensed up at the sudden action but did not take a step back.

That was good. He was already showing that he wouldn't back down from a challenge.

She'd make an Inuzuka out of him yet.

First Kiba sniffed at Orochimaru's left side. Then he sniffed at his right side. And, finally, he grabbed a handful of the kid's hair and pressed it to his nose. Once had inhaled deeply, he let go of the pieces and took a step back. He closed his eyes and pursed his lips, adopting his father's thinking pose for a few seconds. Then a large smile split his face in half, a glint of feral twinkling in his eyes.

"You smell delicious." the runt nodded to himself definitively and Tsume couldn't help the smirk that pulled at the corner of her lips. "If we're ever stuck together in a snowstorm, I'm going to eat you."

Orochimaru paled.

Tsume burst out laughing.

Kiba only continued to smile.

 _That's my pup_ , she thought as she shook her head in amusement.

Having sent him on that hunt with the Hatake and Daichi had been the right course of action.

* * *

"He's a psychopath."

"He's a _child_."

Even through the mask, she was able to see Hatake frown heavily at her.

"He tried to kill the Third Hokage."

She smirked, "He's incapable of wielding a weapon larger than a kunai, pup. You've got to try again."

Kakashi didn't like the idea of Orochimaru being added into the Inuzuka clan. He liked the idea of having to share a pup and family with Orochimaru _even less_. And he liked the idea of having to, quite possibly, start bringing Orochimaru along on Kiba's hunting trips about as much as he enjoyed the idea of entering a room through a door rather than a window.

"I don't like it."

There was a crash from outside the kitchen where they were both sat down, then she heard Kiba's mad cackling melodied with Orochimaru's much more composed giggling. Within a few seconds, Hana's chuckling started up at around the same time the Haimaru brothers wheezing laugh joined in. And after a few more seconds, Daichi shouted at the name of each of those individuals, including the dogs, and then the sounds of a chase began.

Another object clattered to the ground in less than a minute and Tsume smiled, just as Kakashi groaned loudly.

"He's part of this pack, Hatake. That means he's part of _your_ pack. And _that_ means you're going to have introduce yourself to him one of these days." from the way his expression soured, it would seem that her words were unagreeable.

Kakashi really needed to grow up.

They spent the next few seconds in a cold silence that was only punctured every now and again by the sounds of the altercation going on outside between the rest of their small pack-unit.

"I'm _not_ sharing a bed with him." was Kakashi's eventual comeback... and Tsume's smirk became predatory.

She had her whole pack in line, alright.

* * *

"Hey, everyone! This is my brother! Mess with him and you'll have to answer to me!"

Tsume smirked as she watched her youngest biological pup drag around her youngest adopted pup into the classroom. Even though he was still very much only six years old, Kiba's voice was booming and commanding, undoubtedly catching the attention of everyone within the room as soon as he began to speak.

Beside her, she heard Daichi grunted softly. Then he murmured, "I don't like this... are those two ready for this?"

Only two weeks after she had taken Orochimaru under her wing, the Academy's new year had begun. Kiba had already been enrolled since the day he had been born, so it was only natural for him to start attending school when the opportunity hit. But Daichi worried about their youngest pup because the runt had always found it difficult to interact with other, non-Inuzuka members of society.

Daichi Inuzuka was, at the end of the day, a bleeding heart.

Orochimaru, on the other hand, really had no business attending the Academy... or, at least, that's what Tsume had heard idiotic assholes whispering around the Village as they made their way to the Academy. She wouldn't be surprised if these were the kind of people that believed that a fitting punishment for the child had been imprisonment- so she didn't really pay them any mind.

"Of course they are. Orochimaru's a prodigy and Kiba's an Inuzuka." she crossed her arms below her breasts before shrugging softly, "Besides, they've got each other."

If it had been Orochimaru attending the Academy alone, she may have worried. Kids could be cruel and the kid had a soft heart that had not yet been hardened by the misfortunes of life. Considering how she was trying to raise him right this time, he would have a hard time dealing with bullying. But with Kiba there to protect him like the guard dog he was, she knew they would both be fine.

"Kiba Inuzuka, the desk is for sitting, not standing!"

Daichi groaned even louder than before and Tsume began to chuckle at the antics of her pup.

"That teacher's gonna have his work cut out for him." she shook her head and began to turn around so she could walk away from the Academy.

To either side of her, she was able to see the parents of the other children that would be entering the Academy this year. She recognized most of the faces, and most of the scents that accompanied such people were judgmental, prideful, and absolutely negative. It seemed that very few parents were happy to have their children share a space with Orochimaru Inuzuka.

Like she gave a shit.

"Shika, Blondie, Pork Chop." she greeted the heads of the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans respectively as she was close enough to speak with them; they had arrived late to the first day, _of course_.

Their three brats looked up at her with varying looks of wonder, fear, and/or anxiety- probably all directed at having to attend a brand new school. She sent a wolfish smile at all of them and the only one that didn't recoil was the blonde's offspring- smart girl; _never_ show vulnerability to a probable enemy.

"Tsume." Shikaku groaned and she was highly pleased to know that she had managed to annoy him so early in the morning. "Daichi." he greeted the man with more energy and Daichi undoubtedly offered a pleasant smile back.

"Are Kiba and Orochimaru already in the classroom?" Inoichi questioned immediately, then frowned as he turned to glare at Shikaku. "We are late because of you."

Tsume waved at them all as she began to walk away, "You're late alright- my pups already made their grand entrance."

None of these men were comfortable with the idea of having their kids in the same classroom as Orochimaru. But they were smart enough to keep their opinions to themselves.

And if they were _tactical_ , they'd know to not give their opinions to their children.

* * *

Within two weeks of her two youngest having started at the Academy, she was called in because of a fight.

She had gone to meet with the young Iruka-sensei, expecting to have to listen to the kid talk about how Kiba had been crossed a line in defending his snake-like younger brother. And she had been prepared to defend both of her pups because no Inuzuka would ever take an insult lying down.

What she had expected... had not been what she had been called in to deal with.

"I didn't mean to break his finger, Tsume-sama, I guess I just do not know my own strength."

 _Bullshit_ , Tsume immediately thought.

While Orochimaru stared up at her with widened eyes from his chair in front of Iruka-sensei's desk, she could smell the absolute _pride_ that was emanating from him. His whole composure read of regret and fear, but there was glint of _I planned this and I regret nothing_ in those fanged eyes that the kid wasn't absolutely able to stamp down.

Sitting beside the de-aged kid, her biological runt was kicking his legs with his head hung low against his chest. His hands were holding on tightly to the edge of his seat and the way he looked was the way he smelt- like _shit_.

If the story had really occurred how she had been told, Kiba was feeling let down in his own ability. He hadn't been able to save himself- and that was something no Inuzuka could really stomach the first time it happened to them. And having to be saved by his younger brother must have added salt into the wound that had been this inability to protect himself from those kids that had been bullying him.

Some kids from lesser clans had begun to gang up on Kiba during their recess when Orochimaru had left his side to hang out a bit with the Yamanaka offspring. Outside of Kiba, she was the only brat in the class that had attempted to get to know him, after all- and her pups had asked if she could come over to their house on one afternoon so they could spend time together outside of school.

She needed to remember to set that up with Inoichi...

Kiba was an Inuzuka, through and through, and he hadn't accepted the insults that had been hurled his way. He'd given as many verbal lashings as he had received and then punches had started to fly- Kiba said that the mongrels had started, the mongrels said that Kiba had... Orochimaru had ended it, though.

"This is the first time I hear of annoying bullying Kiba, Tsume-sama." Iruka-sensei informed her in a heavy voice, "How would you like to proceed?"

She quirked an eyebrow at the question... how was she supposed to want to proceed. _A lot_ of years had passed since she had been forced to sit down in a classroom for a prolonged period of time- so the way she had been taught to deal with issues like these wouldn't probably be the most fitting anymore... and Hana had never given her any issues, so she hadn't been forced to deal with anything like this before...

"A fight to decide which brat stays in the Academy."

That seemed much nicer than the punishment that had been handed out before when she had been a kid, in her eyes. Instead of being barred from ever becoming a ninja, the loser would just be forced to put their education on hold for a year.

Iruka-sensei sighed softly, "It has been years since the Academy stopped using that punishment in cases of disagreements between students." then he offered, "We can begin with having the boys apologize to both your sons; continued by a month of detention. We don't take kindly to any kind of bullying- especially not the kind targeted at discriminating against one's heritage."

Tsume blinked at his words... "What?"

"They said the Inuzuka are flea-ridden mongrels that would sooner eat comrades than starve, Tsume-sama." Orochimaru piped up, a cold anger that was very reminiscent of how he had once sounded, _years ago_ , when he had been faced with some stupid bastards having insulted his students harsh enough to have hurt them all. "They were insulting _all_ Inuzuka- and that cannot be allowed."

Well... that was brand new.

Inuzuka were always getting underestimated and insulted by other members of the Village; mostly those of lesser clans that envied their status as one of the bigger clans in the Village. So they were taught from an early age to pick their fights- if they fought just anyone that treated them like trash, they'd never get anything done in a day.

Still... from the way Iruka-sensei was looking at her... it seemed that Orochimaru had interpreted his words correctly.

"Huh. That's new." she bit out, then shrugged. "I'll defer to your judgement, Iruka-sensei."

He nodded once, then looked at Orochimaru and Kiba. "You will need to be punished as well. Fighting allies is never the right answer."

Kiba frowned, "But what if my allies are stupid? Then they should be knocked a peg."

Orochimaru nodded quickly, "An ally that is wrong is an ally that must be educated."

Iruka-sensei frowned.

Tsume, beside herself, smiled.

These two were going to be just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this!
> 
> Please review and tell me what you thought about this chapter!


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